Safer.

Click me for an article from the Guardian. It details the arrest of a suspicious person by police officers guarding the London Underground. The synopsis: a guy takes out his cellphone in the tube. He gets arrested and his house gets searched.

Now, my initial reaction is simple awe. The story is a startling glimpse into the after-effects of the British Terrorism Act. It forces me to consider what passes as normal and abnormal behavior in the panicked atmosphere of our modern world.

And of course, my instincts are to shout about Civil Liberties. But then I realize: This is The Price of Safety. And it’s a fair price. Sure, the guy gets arrested for 24 hours, and detained, and his house searched. But if this is happening to everyone on the tube who acts suspiciously, then wouldn’t another bombing be … at least more difficult? If his behavior matched the behavior of the London bombers, then he is suspicious. And, you know what? In the end, the searches validate his innocence. If he had been carrying a pouch full of plastique, we’d be celebrating the heroes of the London Underground, and their unwavering attention to detail. Instead, the article presses us to shriek about our potential police state.

You know what I say? Good job, MPs. And people of earth: Get Used to It.

Imagine that the next bombing was radioactive - would you give up a scheduled day of your life to potentially save the lives of millions of people?. Because that’s what we’re talking about. We’re talking about whining about being handcuffed vs. doing nothing until it’s too late, and everyone is injured or dead.

I carry around a big backpack. It’s filled with gadgets. I carry a camera, take notes, and travel alone. I’m the perfect target for “heightened security measures.” And you know what I say? Arrest me. And hopefully arrest a few others like me. I have nothing to hide, but maybe one of them might be planning to blow himself up on a train. I’m not so self-absorbed to think that my privacy is more important than people’s lives. It’s absolutely not.

And before you go quoting “they that give up their essential liberty for safety deserves neither,” I’d point out that our founding fathers hadn’t split the atom, and warfare was still a relatively chivalrous affair. When our enemies refuse to wear uniforms and threaten the sanctuaries of our civilian lives, it forces us all to reconsider the freedoms that we take for granted. I’d spend a week in a cell if it meant that the police were more likely to catch a person bent on destroying the lives of those I love. Hell, I’d take a year in jail over a downtown suitcase nuke. Because that’s how much I care for the people around me, and it’s the freedom I would sacrifice in order to provide a greater safety to my fellow man.

Stop whining about your handcuffs. Live your life, and make your sacrifices. To Benjamin Franklin, I would reply: Ask not what Your Country can do for you, but what you can do for Your Country.

Revotroller

Also, in gaming news …

The next Nintendo is called the Revolution. Apparently it is compatable with every Nintendo System Ever Made via the Nintend-net; you download any game ever and play it on your system, with the controllers from throughout history.

Now, the *new* controller has been hidden from the public until this morning. And it’s … different from any other controller I’ve ever seen.

Now, before you say it’s terrible, you have to understand that it is like a light-gun-wand that controls your onscreen movements with True 3-D sensitivity. Depth, Height, Width — it’s able to communicate with all axis. So now, you will essentially wave your hand and move — much like the instinctive motions that most people do when dodging onscreen villians or leaping great virtual chasms. It’s truly a revolution, and an indication that Nintendo is not following Microsoft and Sony down the same path for their next system.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Oh My God That Looks Amazing.

Click here, then click on Quicktime Extra Large, fool!

PG-13. Solid.

Current Anime, shouted out at no one in particular.

Honey and Clover is fantastic. I’m six episodes away from the ending, and I’m in love with everything about the show - the design, the characters, the music, the direction. It’s touching, dramatic, poignant, and funny. And most of all, charming.

The series follows six major characters through university. There’s no clear protaganist; it’s more of a mosaic, viewed up close so that each tile is interesting.

My favorite line from today was, “What is more painful: To cry because you know what you want, or because you can’t find it?” Since this is an art collage, the series deals equally with creative struggles and interpersonal relationships. It’s gorgeous, and not at all what I usually watch in the mornings.

1000 Words

My family is safe. Their house remained above water, and power has even returned to Jefferson Parish. Lots of families aren’t so lucky. Now, the picture above would imply that I’m blaming Bush. I’m not. I think his deficiency, as always, is eloquence and intelligence. He shouldn’t be holding that guitar, and the combination of these images really, really demonstrates why he’s a total incompetent. His job is to be the voice of the response; he is the mouthpiece of our reaction. I don’t expect Bush to be on a boat, pulling people out of attics. But I do demand that he be the face of our shock and sadness, that he tell the world how we feel as a nation.

However, is he to blame? Somewhat, of course. But the truth is, I think it was the local NOPD’s responsibility to take care of immediate aftermath. They are the primary level of defense against civil anarchy. But where was the NOPD? At Walmart, apparently. Looting Walmart. This video is embarrassing, it’s shameful, and it’s very illustrative of the difference between this disaster and a few others we’ve experienced as a country.

Your duty, when you sign up to become a police officer, is to protect the public and uphold the law; it’s the principle that should rule your life with religious clarity. On 9/11, it wasn’t the federal government that swooped in to the rescue; it was the local authorities. The NYPD, the NYFD - these were the heroes, not the military, not the national guard. The NOPD failed New Orleans. I believe that video shows us exactly why things got so bad in Louisiana.

I think the Left has leapt on Bush because the Left Hates Bush. But Bush is not the local government, he’s not the state government. He’s level three, the face of our national response. Sure, he failed us. But the horror of New Orleans was not a result of his shortcomings. It was a breakdown of the ideals of the police, the populace, and a failure first and foremost of principles.

I hate Christians.

Agape press is “Reliable News from a Christian Source.” Today, it tells us:

“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion — it’s free of all of those things now,” Shanks says. “God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there — and now we’re going to start over again.”(http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/22005b.asp)

This is indeed news. And apparently its reliable.

But I have to ask if this was the most merciful way for god to end Mardi Gras. Perhaps a more merciful way would have been visiting a non-lethal disease upon the french quarter that made all people suddenly have a strong aversion to beads and parade floats. Instead of a deadly, merciful hurricane, may I humbly suggest a Category Four city-wide desire to read a piece of classic literature?

Also, I doubt Hurricane Katrina really rid N.O. of all sodomites. I’m willing to bet that a few gay people survived. Same with the “witchcraft workers,” whomever they are. On the other hand, False Relgion has definately been wiped out of the crescent city. There weren’t that many Jews there to begin with.

Thanks to His Mercy, New Orleans is now church service free. It is communion free. New Orleans is baptism free and marriage free. New Orleans is infastructure free. God’s Clear Message is: Stop Being So Faithful! Get out there and loot since there’s no way to pay for water or food. Jesus wiped out the Southern Decadence so that you could set footlocker on fire in His Name.

Bicycles.

As seen on Drudge.

Well … with a bit of help from Photoshop. I just calculated October 1st prices based on current hikes.